The A879 starts on the M8 on the northern edge of Glasgow city centre and heads north, leaving the city behind surprisingly quickly to finish in open countryside.

The route starts at the traffic-light-controlled Dobbies Loan junction on the northern edge of the A804 Inner Ring Road, with east facing slips to the M8. It initially heads west, running roughly parallel to both the A804 and M8 to the south before crossing the canal and turning north along Craighall Road through the industrial areas of Port Dundas. After nearly a mile, the route reaches Possil Cross, where it meets its original route, along Possil Road from Garscube Cross, and continues north past Cowlairs Park, over Saracen Cross and through Possil Park.

After crossing the Forth and Clyde Canal and climbing past the Western Necropolis (a large cemetery opened in 1882), it starts to descend through the outskirts of Glasgow and on into open countryside. As it crosses the River Kelvin, the line of the Antonine Wall turns to briefly run parallel to the east, but there is little evidence of it to be found in the ploughed fields. A little after crossing the river on Balmuildy Bridge, the Antonine Wall turns west again, and the A879 crosses it. One of the Aqueducts from Loch Katrine into Glasgow also crosses the road nearby. It is now just a short run to the end of the road at Allander Toll, where it terminates on the A807, with the B8049 diverted to meet the roundabout too.

History

In 1922, the route now used by the A879 was mostly the B812. As noted above, this started on the A81 at Garscube Cross and headed northeast along Possil Road to Possil Cross, from where the current route was followed north. The Route was upgraded fairly quickly - we know that the A876 number was first allocated in 1926, so it is easy to assume that the A879 number was allocated in 1926 or 27. The route remained unchanged, however, until the M8 motorway opened, and the A879 was rerouted along Craighall Road to meet the motorway and A804.